So this weekend I was "lucky" enough to see [rec]2. For those that don't know, [rec] is a Spanish horror film. It was remade in North America as Quarantine. If you need more info, that's why they have google.

I was a pretty big fan of the first [rec]. Quarantine was ok, but was a bit too glossy and wasn't too keen on the direction it went for the explanation. This one uses a similar film style. With a SWAT member acting as a camera man to record the happenings for evidence. The second one picks up immediately following the first. It follows a SWAT team as they enter the building with a health inspector, Owen. Each of the SWAT members has a head mounted camera that the main cameraman can tap into at any time, which helps to broaden the camera views.

The film deviates a lot from the first one. Whereas the first one hinted at a possible possession angle, this one embraces that. It takes the religious subtext of the first and brings it to the forefront in this one. these people aren't simply infected, but possessed, and all mind-linked to the girl from the articles. And this is where it loses me. The mix of science and religion doesn't mesh that well. They kinda beat you over the head with the explanation, but it seems out of place when viewed in the context of the first film. A virus/disease fit perfectly as the first film portrayed a "28 Days Later" type outbreak. Possession that is contagious via blood and saliva just doesn't make much sense.

On it's own it's not bad. The action is fantastic, the acting spot on, the effects are great and it has some genuine surprises. But it diminishes the effect the first had. They explain way to much and the explanations aren't great. the ending leaves it wide open for the already planned sequel ([rec] Genesis, with a 4th planned [rec] Apocalipsis). It's worth watching, but prepare for some disappointment.

I was trying to describe it to a friend who asked if it was good. Only thing I could come up with is that Rec2 was Cameron's Aliens to Ridley Scott's Alien.

It was following up on a horror concept started with the first movie, but it took the horror concept slightly more into the action realm

Splitting up the story into different points of view was also pretty awesome, especially since it was still believable, while feeling like multi camera/location shoot. The Air Vent scene was freaky as hell. I did find the "Lights off to see the other world" part a bit Video-game like, though.

But yeah, I hated Quarantine so much for changing the explanation. It's like they couldn't make it "religious" or people might get "offended" or "not buy it". Rec 1 went the Emily Rose direction and crossed possession with rabies, which was interesting.

I got to see this last night and got a kick out of it. I do like the original a lot more, but that's almost to be expected since something like that would be so hard to top. The biggest strike against this one to me is it fell into the inevitable pitfall that most sequels do, which is the need to explain what exactly caused the events of the first movie. Not that it's an entirely bad thing, but it can bog down a second act with a lot of exposition. But Rec2 handled this pretty well in my book.

Actually, I hated the story split. The teens were super annoying. I get why they did it, and it was a good concept, but they picked some go awful actors for those kids. And the explanation of why they ended up in the building was super weak. Plus it killed the entire flow of the middle of the movie.

I enjoyed the story split, but the kids were definitely annoying. The part where this was driven home was the

"I won't go into the sewers... Nothing you can say will make me go into the sewers".... Cut to Them in the sewers. That girl was angrily putting her foot down. There is no way they would have convinced her (Except for in a movie, which the shooting style was trying to stray from).

I agree with Shibamura's spoiler. Especially one

character

in particular

Without a doubt, for me the cast of REC 1 was stronger. Al the way down to the dashing apartment manager who wanted to make sure the camera got his good side before he was interviewed (non of these things were transferred well into Quarantine). Basically, Rec2 was a fun ride, but I didn't get attached to any characters, like I did with Maru in Rec 1.

I enjoyed the story split, but the kids were definitely annoying. The part where this was driven home was the

"I won't go into the sewers... Nothing you can say will make me go into the sewers".... Cut to Them in the sewers. That girl was angrily putting her foot down. There is no way they would have convinced her (Except for in a movie, which the shooting style was trying to stray from).

I agree with Shibamura's spoiler. Especially one

character

in particular

Without a doubt, for me the cast of REC 1 was stronger. Al the way down to the dashing apartment manager who wanted to make sure the camera got his good side before he was interviewed (non of these things were transferred well into Quarantine). Basically, Rec2 was a fun ride, but I didn't get attached to any characters, like I did with Maru in Rec 1.

Click to expand...

Father

Owen was the only character that really got any real development. The whole time I was hoping it would be said "This isn't demonic possession...This is worse".

his determination despite the abominations was definitely indicative of the urgency of their situation, which does imply some sort of "bigger picture"

.

So putting aside that this might not have been the intention when REC 1 was created,

our reporter from the first movie was taken at the end, not to kill, but to possess and serve as a vessel?

Click to expand...

Yeah. It was a nice bookend to the film.

Showing Medeiros transfer the demon slug was a nice way to explain how the film ends. It's just a shame I wasn't too keen on that part of the story at all. I thought bringing Angela back was a bit too...Contrived.

Plus it all lends to the whole problem of the film giving way too much explanation.